Garlic Chicken (Stir Fry)

Garlic Chicken With Zucchini And Mushrooms

The key to a successful stir fry lies mostly in the preparation. If you have cooked with a wok you know what I'm talking about. It goes quick! The first thing I do is cook my rice. And while the rice is steaming I chop my veggies and any meat I will be using. I also like to stick to the "Three Veggie Rule." (Okay, so maybe that's a rule that I made up to make it easier on myself.) Whatever, it works! I choose no more than three vegetables to go in my stir fry. Less is more, right? Unless of course I am doing an all veggie stir fry, then all bets are off! By the way...I consider an onion as a vegetable when it comes to stir fry. (Another made-up rule of mine.)

As you can see in my photos here, you can go with any veggie trio that suits your tastes. Serve it over rice, some lo mein, soba noodles, or even by itself. My family really likes the zucchini and mushroom combo. And the sauce I use is almost identical to the one at our favorite wok house. Every time we dine there I order the Garlic Chicken. So good!

 I am writing this dish up with just two cloves of garlic in the sauce. Trust me, that's plenty of garlic. But for it to truly live up to it's name you need to go with four cloves. And just know in advance that you won't be doing a whole lot of kissing later that night. (garlic breath)  Quick and delicious! This is one of my favorite dishes! Enjoy!

Garlic Chicken With Baby Bok Choy And Mushrooms

Ingredients For Stir Fry:

1 lb  boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces (about 2 breasts)

1 pint fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 medium sweet onion, halved and chopped into chunks

2 zucchini, thinly sliced

2 Tbs vegetable oil (Can use any kind of oil, really. Peanut oil is nice, too.)

Ingredients For Garlic Sauce:

2-4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

2 tsp corn starch

1 Tbs vegetable oil

1/2 to 1 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (if you don't have this, red pepper flakes are a good sub)

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl

Directions:

In a wok or large, non-stick skillet, heat 2 Tbs oil over med/high heat; just takes a minute or two.  Add your chopped chicken to the oil and lightly stir fry for a few minutes. Just until all sides of chicken are no longer pink. I remove my chicken to a separate plate at this time so that it doesn't over cook. Add all vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes; just until you can clearly smell the cooked onion. (Veggies will still be rather crisp.) Add garlic sauce and stir fry for about three minutes. Add chicken back to wok and stir fry another five minutes. Making sure it is piping hot and that your veggies and meat have been  nicely mixed with the garlic sauce. Serve over rice or Asian noodles of choice.